Question Preferred Luster laminates for photos

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apocolibri

Grumbler in Training
Joined
Sep 8, 2010
Posts
7
Hello,
Newbie on the Grumble here. Looking for advice on laminating large photos with a luster laminate.

I'll be buying a 40-50" roll press in the not-to-distant future as I live too far from pro caliber framers to have large prints mounted and laminated. Before doing so, I'd like to hear any recommendations on luster laminates that have worked well for those on the forum as I can then request some samples from suppliers and laminate a few prints and compare them.

Also wondering if cold roll laminates look as good as the heat applied laminates as I can avoid the option of purchasing a heated roll press if this is the case.

Thanks for any advice!
Lawrence
 
Welcome to the Grumble.

A heat press is no more expensive than a cold roller press. You can try to apply these without a press but they look horrible if not immediately it will before very long. I have used the cold laminate but put it in the heat press to improve clarity and prevent bubbling. There is a world of difference in the appearance once heat pressed.
 
Thanks Jeff and Candy.
I'm finding it a bit frustrating that so many laminates are only available in 38 and 41" rolls when the industry "standard" for wide format printers is 44". On such a printer, one generally leaves at least 1/2" at the edges so there's some margin for error if the roll doesn't feed perfectly straight. I'm trying to maximize the image size with my 44" Epson so I don't have to move up to a 60" printer, and it makes little sense to me that so few of these laminates are available in 44" rolls. The mission at hand is to find a 44" roll luster lam that looks good as this will provide a little wiggle room with a 43" wide print.
Lawrence
 
Try looking through the catalog here. You will need to be a licensed business to buy from them but if you are not they can give you the name of a dealer in your area. They also offer log splitting so you could buy a 60" roll and they could split it 44" & 16" for a small fee. They have anything you could ever hope for in laminate.

http://www.proveer.com/default.aspx?pageid=1&lang=1
 
apocolibri said:
some margin for error if the roll doesn't feed perfectly straigh.
Click to expand...

I see you mention your feed issues so I wonder what type of roller system you have. My experience is that roller systems made for the framing industry are mere toys compared to those in the sign industry. The roller systems used in the sign industry run 3-20 times ($10k-$50k or more) the cost of rollers in framing for quality units.
 
Jeff,
I don't own a roller system as of yet. I want to make sure that I've found the perfect laminate and mount adhesive before I make the investment. I was speaking of my Epson printer when I mentioned the paper skewing issue.

Forums like this are useful as I hope to get advice from others who have compared various laminates and have settled on one they like. A catalog just gives me a list of vendors and products and I'm left to guess. This game gets very expensive fast... so I hope to learn from the experience of others who have worked with laminates.

Jared - thanks for your suggestion on the Drytac. That's one model I'm considering.

Lawrence
 
I'm using the Epson 9800 for printing. If you buy rolls of paper you have no worry of misfeeds. Laminate prices vary widely and until you decide how you are going to apply it there is no reason to price it all. Purchase a heat press model 500TX and you will never regret it. You can work 50" wide by any length. Prices are as reasonable as any piece of equipment you can buy.
 
That won't work for Dibond, Jeff. Dibond requires cold mount adhesives. How do you run a 43x64" print through a 500 TX when the platten is 24x36"? It's not going to happen.

And I only use roll paper for prints 43x64" on my 9600. Paper ends are perfectly square before feeding into the printer and the paper skews. My paper feed mechanism is off... and that's after over 12 visits by Decision One, Epson's aftermarket service provider.
 
The 500TX is 26x34 so you run down the length of one side to unlimited length in bites and turn the board around to do the other. Diebond can be coated with LaminAll from McDonald Photo Products and heat mounted after it is dry.
 
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